


Cold and Alone

by DepressingGreenie



Series: STB Bingo [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (Fantastic as in fantasy. Not that Speciesism is great and wonderful 😝), Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Capwolf, Fantastic Speciesism, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Werewolf Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27818989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DepressingGreenie/pseuds/DepressingGreenie
Summary: Capwolf curls up as tight as he can against the cold, biting wind, burring his nose under his paws to keep it warm.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: STB Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035654
Comments: 7
Kudos: 57
Collections: Hurt/Comfort Bingo - Round 11, STB Bingo: Round One





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the **Steve|Tony|Bucky Bingo** prompt [“Falling Through the Ice” [B1] + “Alcoholism” [B2] + “Tied to a Pole” [B3] + “Fur” [B4] + “I can do this all day” [B5]](https://darthbloodorange.tumblr.com/post/634888730441924608/my-stuckony-bingo-card-super-excited)
> 
> Also for the [Hurt/Comfort Bingo Round 11](https://hc-bingo.dreamwidth.org/211156.html) prompt [ Near Death Experience [I5]](https://darthbloodorange.tumblr.com/post/621171124337852416/my-card-for-round-11-of-the-hurtcomfort-bingo) (Nearly drowning, but rescued)

Capwolf curls up as tight as he can against the cold, biting wind, burring his nose under his paws to keep it warm. His neck chafes where the elvin rope was tied around his neck, fastening him to the elderwood post.

He eyes the small rabbit standing by the edge of the frozen lake, his stomach rolling with hunger. It had been so long since he’d eaten. But there was no way that rabbit was going to come close enough for him to catch. The men who captured him tied the rope so that he had as little length to move around as possible. With a tired huff he looks away, licking his wounded paw.

A sharp crack comes from the forest, startling the rabbit away. Capwolf’s ears twitch towards the sound, trying to work out what made that noise. It sounded slightly bigger than a deer, but smaller than a bear.

He could make out the quiet mumblings of a voice. The words are slurred, he can place the accent to work out if it were a man, fae, mer or otherfolk.

From the bushes a man stumbles out, clothes dirty and torn, reeking of alcohol. Capwolf’s noise wrinkles up in distaste.

There wasn’t much he could tell of the man from what was left of his clothing. He could be a metalsmith, ranger or a royal, it was hard to tell.

Maybe he could eat him?

Capwolf normally wouldn’t eat human, they were too stingy and gamy. He preferred sheep and cattle, it was got him into this situation, tied to a post in the middle of a frozen lake. But he was hungry and cold. Maybe if he could get the man close enough…

He whines, trying to get the man’s attention.

The man turns to him with an expression that actually makes Capwolf draw back.

“SHUT UP, MUTT! I DON- I DON’T NEED ANOTHER PERSON-… ON MY BACK!” The man shouts, waving the bottle in his hand, spilling some of its contents. “I CAN DO-… I CAN DO THISH ALL DAY!!!”

The man stumbles, tripping over a tree root. Face planting into the snow. The bottle flies from his hand towards the frozen lake. The bottle lands on neck, piercing the ice. As it lands there’s a sicking cracking noise. And he knows that it wasn’t the bottle…

The ice begins to crack and give and fall away around the bottle. Capwolf watches as the lake sprinters, watches in horror as the cracks head towards him. He can feel the ice grow weaker under his paws. He flattens out, trying to scoot backwards, away from the braking ice. But it is no use, he is stuck to the spot by the post he’s tethered to.

He lets out a scared, panicked whine as he watches the cracks get closer and closer.

The ice he’s standing on, dips forward into the water. He turns and tries to scramble up the ice, trying to keep himself out of the water. He tries to claw up the post as his hind legs sink into the freezing water below.

Broken up, the ice disappears, sinking and slipping away, leaving Capwolf treading water. He bites down hard on the rope keeping him tethered to the post, trying to keep himself above water. But his legs are cramping and seizing up. His jaw hurts. He eyes the icy water around him, knowing it was a matter of time before he sinks under.

He closes his eyes with a panicked whine.

Something twitchy and alive brushes against his foot. He flinches. It was probably a fish, but he didn’t want to find out, he knows there are more dangerous creatures out here than him. Desperately he tries to get his hind legs up onto the post, his claws, as sharp and powerful as they are, are unable to get a hold in the ancient elderwood of the post.

Regardless, Capwolf does the best he can to keep himself up. His jaw aches with the strain of basically holding his body up. His front paws are losing their grip. He tenses, trying to summon all the strength he could to cling to the post.

The water below gurgles, air bubbles rise to the surface of the icy water. Before Capwolf could even wonder if it were a monster, he notices that the post is looser, shifting freely under his weight. The post was coming free of the lakebed below.

With a stomach dropping creak the post begins to sink backwards, taking him with it.

Capwolf yelps as he hits the water. He lets go of the post and tries to swim towards the shore. But as the water soaks his fur he finds it harder and harder to keep afloat as the weight of it pulls him down.

It is too much for his tired, cold limbs to keep himself afloat. He watches the light fade as he sinks deeper and deeper into the lake…


	2. Chapter 2

Capwolf wakes to the crackling of a wood fire. Slowly he opens his eyes and looks around. He wasn’t in the middle of that frozen lake anymore. He was somewhere warm. Someone’s home, as far as he could tell.

He stretches out his aching limbs, rubbing the pads of his paws into the plush rug below him.

A soft click gets his attention. Capwolf turns towards the door behind him, watching anxiously. The door opens, revealing the man from earlier.

Capwolf tenses, his fur raising up. He growls in warning, hopping the man would stay back, that the man wouldn’t shout again… like the other men did when they captured him. Things always seemed to go wrong when human started shouting.

But the man doesn’t take the warning, seemingly ignoring it entirely.

Capwolf backs up against the couch as the man comes closer, eyeing the space for an escape. But the only escape was through the door the man had just come through, and Capwolf couldn’t be sure it wasn’t trapped. There weren’t even windows for him to jump through. If he were to guess this room was part of a much larger building. It was probably going to be very hard to escape. He was trapped, again.

He didn’t want to be trapped again.

Didn’t want the shouting, the fire, the burning sticks, the arrows and blades. The metal jaws the humans laid out on the ground to bite him, the nets and rope.

He didn’t want to be put out on that lake again, left to die of cold and hunger, his wounds left untreated to feaster.

Capwolf sits up, trying to make himself as large and as threatening as possible to the man. 

“It’s alright” the man says, raising his hands. “You’re safe.”

Capwolf snarls, baring his teeth at the man. _Humans weren’t safe._

The man kneels down beside him. “I’m sorry.” He says, looking actually remorseful. He misses Buckwolf and Samwolf.

Large, callused fingers dig deep into the fur behind his right ear, scratching just the right spot. It doesn’t hurt. It feels really good actually. His tail beats against the floor as the man picks up speed, scratching even deeper.

Capwolf drops his head back down onto the carpet, with a soft, pleased whine.

Maybe this human wasn’t so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~✨~  
>   
> ⋆Other sites I'm on are linked in [my profile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DepressingGreenie/profile).  
> ⋆If you want to remix/create something inspired by my work feel free (so long as it isn't hateful and doesn't hurt anyone). Show me, I'd Love to see it 💖 Link to my work with AO3 'Inspired by function' if you post it to AO3.  
>   
> ~✨~


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